搜 (sōu) is a Chinese character meaning “to search”. It is written from 扌 (hand (radical form)) and 叟 (old man), side by side, and takes 12 strokes.
Build the character for “to search”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
扌 + 叟
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS ⿰扌叟 (cjkvi-ids / makemeahanzi decomposition, build-time only); modern glyph split verified against hanzi-writer-data strokes (0–2 扌, 3–11 叟)
Memory aid
A hand (扌) reaches out beside the old man (叟) — together they search for what he has lost.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
12 strokes
In real words
- 搜索sōu suǒto search (for)搜 = sōu
- 搜集sōu jíto collect; to gather搜 = sōu
Go deeper
All readings
to search
to search; to seek; to look for
寻找；仔细查找。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 搜索sōu suǒto search (for)搜 = sōu
- 搜集sōu jíto collect; to gather搜 = sōu
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 搜 mean?
搜 (sōu) means to search; to seek; to look for.
How do you pronounce 搜?
It is pronounced sōu.
What parts is 搜 made of?
扌 (hand (radical form)) and 叟 (old man), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS ⿰扌叟 (cjkvi-ids / makemeahanzi decomposition, build-time only); modern glyph split verified against hanzi-writer-data strokes (0–2 扌, 3–11 叟). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 搜 have?
12. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 搜?
扌. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 搜?
Common ones are 搜索 and 搜集. The reading of 搜 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.